BWF World Tour Finals 2024: Dejan/Gloria Win In First Match

Mixed doubles pair Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the first match of Group B BWF World Tour Finals 2024 (doc. PBSI).

JAKARTA - Mixed doubles pair Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja successfully won their first match in the BWF World Tour Finals 2024 group stage.

The pair struggled with a rubber game to stop Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito from Japan with a final score of 23-21, 16-21, and 21-11 on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, morning WIB.

After being forced to play tight in the first and second games, Dejan/Gloria appeared dominant in the deciding game. They started by scoring six consecutive points and were not overtaken again after.

"Today especially for me in the first and second games, the focus is still lacking. So, I'm still not sure about my own game. However, Dejan can cover very well," said Gloria.

This result also became Dejan/Gloria's revenge, who before losing two straight games against the couple when they met in the first round of the 2024 Japanese Kumamoto Masters in November 2024.

Dejan explained that in this match they issued the same pattern of games as several more clinical final variations and executions and they could not find them in Kumamoto.

"Here we try the same thing, but more neatly and add some pattern variations, not just one pattern stuck," said the player who will soon join the PBSI National Training Center.

Dejan/Gloria still have two matches left in Group B, namely against two pairs from Malaysia, namely Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie and Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei.

To secure a ticket to the semifinals, Dejan/Gloria must finish in the first or second positions of the group. To make it safer, they need to clean all the matches.

"This victory is a valuable asset to face the next matches," said Dejan, who will later partner with Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti from the India Open 2025.